Gadget's psychic powers were constantly growing, every day she found that the limits in her powers had risen; fortunately she was doing everything she could to keep full control of these abilities. Day after day her mind became a more and more powerful tool; she did as much as she could to ensure that these abilities would aid the Rescue Rangers and those whom they helped.

Two weeks since this whole palaver started a new problem cropped up for the Rescue Rangers to deal with.

"This house was burgled last night," Stan Blather announced on the news, "The crooks got away with eight pounds of jewels and there were no fingerprints to identify. It also seems that there has been little evidence of a real break in."

"Crikey!" Monterey exclaimed as he heard the news. "Eight pounds and no evidence!" Chip nodded knowingly.

"Looks like an animal criminal to me!" He commented, the Rangers were unanimous in that opinion. "Let's get down to the station!" He told them, while three of the Rangers were ready to do so Gadget hesitated.

'Would you like me to come, too?' She mentally asked him, Chip shook his head.

'That'd be too easy,' He thought, 'I'd like to do it the traditional way.' Gadget nodded in understanding and wished them luck while she busied herself in the workshop. Zipper made a trumpeting noise and the other three Rangers announced.

"Rescue Rangers away!" And they dashed out towards the police station.

"Spinelli," Kirby stated as he and Muldoon approached the sergeant's desk, "We've had look round for clues to this robbery, but all we could find were these." They placed some sheets of paper on his desk with paw prints on each one.

"Animal prints?" He commented in a rhetorical tone.

"Afraid so, sergeant." Kirby continued. "I don't know why there are all these prints and no fingerprints." Spinelli turned at a right-angle and said.

"Oh, hey, great," He commented, "Officers Muldoon and Kirby attend the scene of the crime and find animal paw-prints!"

"Maybe it was a cat-burglar." Muldoon volunteered.

"Oh, yeah," Spinelli replied, "Very funny, Muldoon."

"Of course," Chip commented as he earwigged on their conversation, "It could be…" Dale shrugged his shoulders in Chip's direction and said.

"How can we be sure?" Chip thought for a while and answered.

"If we can see the sort of paw-prints they are then we can determine whether he is responsible." Just as Chip started to think about how to get a few samples from the piles on the desk Spinelli opened his drawer and took out some foodstuffs to make himself a sandwich. A mustard-yellow trail floated up to the fan and right in front of Monterey Jack's face, causing him to suddenly go narcotic and that can only mean…

"Cheeeeesssse!" He moaned as he found himself being drawn towards the source of the smell.

"Monty, no!" Both Chip and Dale declared in unison, but he was too far out of it. Once again he leapt down from the fan and dashed for the desk.

Spinelli had just finished making his sandwich when the telephone rang, he babbled on into the phone while Monterey Jack dashed across the desk and grabbed the cheese from his sandwich.

Chip and Dale got to him just in time as Spinelli replaced the receiver and picked up his sandwich, they hauled Monterey out of sight and snagged a few prints while Spinelli pondered with annoyance as to what happened to the cheese in his sandwich.

"They look promising," Chip commented as he somehow tucked them away under his jacket, "Let's get back to HQ!" And they all dashed away from the desk.

Gadget greeted them the minute they entered through the door.

"Hey guys," She said, "Did anything turn up?" Chip nodded and pulled out the prints to show everyone, of course Dale got side-tracked.

"How are you getting on, Gadget?" He asked her, Chip felt annoyance and Gadget was aware of it, so she decided to try and make it quick.

"Well," She began, "My telepathy range seems to match the city limits now, and last night I only slept just over three hours." The Rangers all gasped at that and Monty made a comment.

"You seem to be eating less as well, lass." She nodded and said.

"You noticed, I seem to be eating only a fifth of what I used to at mealtimes."

"And no snacks either." Dale commented, Chip quietly groaned at the dithering.

"I also seem to have increased strength and stamina." Gadget added weakly, not sure what to make of this last factor.

"Sounds promising," Dale commented, "It might be the first sign of tele-whatchamacallit."

'Telekinesis.' She mentally told him. "Interesting thought." Dale blushed, taking that last comment literally. "What's the news, Chip?" She asked, he was glad that she got back on track and leaned over the prints while the other Rangers gathered around him.

"I have a hunch," He told them, "But I'm not sure. These prints are in the right category, but I can't be certain." Gadget studied the prints and then took a quick telepathic glance at Chip and said.

"He's nearly always trying to steal precious jewels and, sometimes, money. Just a moment." She shut her eyes and concentrated on one particular building in her mind, she could hear his words as they passed through his mind towards his mouth.

"Ahh, my dear little jewels," Fat Cat murmured as he pawed the hooky on his desk, "If only you knew what I went through for you." The lift doors opened and his three stooges trotted in with a full sack between them.

"Here you go, boss." Mepps groaned as he took some of the weight.

"You'll love the stuff we've just swiped." Wart commented as they emptied the sack onto the desk, pouring more loot all over it.

"Hmm," Fat Cat pondered, "Nice work, guys." He then stood face to faces with them. "I hadn't finished counting the previous stock, you fools!" He yelled at them.

"Uh," Mole spoke up, "How can you make gravy from jewels, Fat Cat?" He now found himself at Fat Cat's side.

"My dear Mole," He replied, "It's not that sort of stock! I'm referring to the fact that I wasn't through with the jewels you previously brought me!" He then stood up straight and paced around the room. "The next time you bring me more jewels and there's still some on my desk, leave the sack next to my desk!"

"Can we go now, Mr. Fat?" Mepps asked, Fat Cat gave them all a hard stare and answered.

"Yes, get out of my sight and leave me to my jewels." They waltzed towards the lift. "Oh and…" He let the sentence hang for a bit while they stopped and turned, "Keep an eye out for those Rescue rodents; they're bound to take an interest in my business." And they finally completed their walk to the lift and left Fat Cat with his one true love outside of food, wealth.

"Spot on, Chip." Gadget announced, the Rangers were all in suspense as she stood there with her eyes shut, awaiting her verdict. "He's got his cronies pilfering the wealthy again." Chip nodded and said.

"Well then, we'd better pay him a…"

"Wait Chip!" Gadget cried out, they were all surprised by this outburst. "He's expecting us to investigate! Give me a minute and I'll see where and when the best time for jewel recovery will be." Chip nodded and led the rest of the Rangers into the kitchen to rustle up something while Gadget retired to her bedroom to probe a few minds.

The Rangers decided to call it a night by the time Gadget was finished and made this case a top priority for the next morning, Chip was very confident in handling this case as he was used to Fat Cat and his gang in spite of the dramatic life-threatening scenarios he kept bringing up.

That very same evening Fat Cat was suspicious as to the cultural tastes of his cronies, thinking that proper literature might make them more sensible, so he decided to pay their sleeping quarters a little visit before they settled down.

"Ah, my dear henchmen," He greeted them as he walked through the doorway, "I just thought I'd drop by." Mepps looked rather nervous and asked.

"Do you want to see anything, Mr. Fat?" Fat Cat frowned and said.

"Yes, I do, actually. Would you mind getting the books you're reading at the moment and putting them down here?" Mepps, Snout and Wart complied while Mole just stood there staring at Fat Cat who told him. "I mean get what you're going to read tonight and put it on that table!" Mole finally did so. "Mepps, how do you feel?" He asked.

"Dreary, Mr. Fat." Mepps answered.

"Oh, dreary. How sad, never mind!" He then picked up the pile of books and looked at them one by one. "'Useless, by James Joyce'." He read. "Who's reading this?"

"That's mine, Mr. Fat." Mepps answered.

"Useless just about sums you up!" Fat Cat told him.

"Mr. Fat," Mepps meekly commented, "It's called 'Ulysses, by James Joyce'. It's a thrilling adventure about this guy in a…" He didn't get to finish.

"I know what it's all about, professor!" Fat Cat told him. "'Usylles, by James Joyce'. He was character from Greek myth…, Greek myth…, I'm just glad someone here's sophisticated enough to read the classics!" He carried on checking the books. "'The Adventures of Colombo'. Who's reading this?" Fat Cat asked, slightly bewildered.

"I'm reading that, boss!" Wart answered.

"'2001: A Space Odyssey'. Who's is this?" Fat Cat growled.

"That's mine, sir." Snout nervously replied.

"'Winnie the Pooh'! I wonder who's reading this." Fat Cat commented sarcastically.

"I've been reading that, Fat Cat." Mole said.

"You dopey little oaf!" Fat Cat growled at him. "I'm going to see if there's anything that might get you gimps a few brain cells!" He then put the books back on the table and strutted out of the room.

09:00 hours, the Rescue Rangers were piling into the Rangerplane all announcing in unison.

"Rescue Rangers away!" And then Gadget got the Rangerplane in flight, setting it on a course with the cat food factory with the 'Cheshire cat' statue on the roof.

Their approach was stealthy and well-planned, Gadget had identified exactly where Fat Cat's cronies were keeping a watch and had identified a blind spot, they just had to make a distraction first.

Mepps and Wart slouched at the side to the entrance of Fat Cat's casino; Wart was looking all around, mostly at the sky, while Mepps was about ready to go to sleep.

"Wake up!" Wart told his associate with a nudge. "Those Rescue Rangers are crafty and devious, drop your guard for one minute and they slip by."

"Oh," Mepps groaned, "This is so boring!" But he did his best at keeping an eye out, which mainly consisted of him leaning over a piece of the statue staring at a corner beyond.

Snout and Mole were on top of the statue's head, making sure the Rangers would not enter by the windows to Fat Cat's office, although Snout was the one doing the looking out.

"Err, what are we looking for again?" Mole asked as he squinted into the nearby.

"Rescue Rangers, Mole." Snout replied. "Fat Cat is tired of them interfering with his business. We are to give them no quarter!"

"Err," Mole muttered as he went through his pockets, "I haven't got any chance on me anyway." Snout just groaned and looked out over the city, unaware of the small aircraft coming into landing on the back of the cat statue.

"Okay," Gadget whispered as the Rangers disembarked, "We should have no trouble distracting Mole, but we need to prevent Snout from catching us."

"If we flick a few stones here and there," Monterey Jack whispered, "We can distract them for a short while." Chip nodded and added.

"Perhaps if we get them back to back we can pull their hats down over their eyes, then they'll blame each other once they get out of it."

'Which should take Mole a long time.' Dale thought, to which Gadget smiled and nodded in agreement. Dale then snooped around for some stones while Gadget made sure that Snout would not look back, not caring if Mole did or not.

A few clipping sounds made Snout and Mole rather edgy as they stood at the ready, back to back in case any do-gooders tried to come at them from behind. Zipper went in first from Mole's side, who's eyesight was poor enough to let Zipper come fairly close before flying over the odd couple and coming down on top of Mole's head.

"Excuse me." Snout commented upon hearing a brief buzz, then Zipper hauled at Mole's hat putting him out for the count. While Mole walked around in a blind stupor Monterey sneaked up to help Zipper with Snout's hat, who desperately tried to take it off while most of the Rescue Rangers quickly dashed across to reach the windows of Fat Cat's office. Gadget got the Rangerplane out of sight first and clambered up to the windows just as Snout and Mole got their hats off.

"Hey," Snout yelled at Mole, "What are you trying to pull?!?" Mole stood there, stupefied and said.

"Me?!? What did I do? You put the light out!"

"Oh yeah," Snout commented, "Like I'd play silly games like this when there's work to be done." They continued to argue while the Rangers now faced the new problem of shifting all the jewels in Fat Cat's office off to the police station.

Fat Cat wandered out of his casino to check up on his cronies, he placed his paws on Mepps' and Wart's shoulders, causing them to jump slightly.

"Any sign of those Rescue rodents?" He asked them.

"No, Mr. Fat." Mepps answered.

"Not a sign of them, boss." Wart added, Fat Cat snorted and said.

"Don't drop your guard, once they get a sniff of my activities they won't let go until they've spoilt them." He went back inside.

"I've got it!" Gadget declared, catching the attention of the Rangers. "If we hook a line to the cat's face we can tug open it's mouth and all the jewels will come pouring out!" There was a hesitation and Chip said.

"It works alright with an armoured helicopter, but the Rangerplane doesn't have the lifting power." Gadget thought and said.

"A few tweaks here and there should get it done."

"Oh dear." Dale commented.

"Is it that serious?" Gadget asked him.

"Well, every time you say 'should'…" Dale told her, but she cut him off.

"I'm already aware of that opinion." She tapped the side of her head, giving indication as to how she was aware. "I was wondering if it affects all cases."

Fat Cat walked up to the roof to find Snout and Mole still arguing.

"You fools!" He barked. "We've got to keep our eyes open for those Rescue Rangers. We have no time for domestic squabbles!" Snout and Mole pointed at each other and said.

"He started it!" Fat Cat was not amused.

"Started what?" He asked.

"Pulled the wool over my eyes!" Snout told him, pointing to his hat.

"Uh-uh." Mole commented. "He put the light out with a tea cosy." Fat Cat looked at each other and their hats and it dawned on him, a pained look spread across his face.

"Come with me!" He told them.

Some time later, Fat Cat leaped out of his casino entrance and grabbed Wart and Mepps.

"Come with me, quickly!" He told them.

"Well," Gadget commented after hearing the Rangers give their opinions as to how dangerous her use of the word 'should' was, "I suppose it's all a question of trial and error. After all, we've never had a case we couldn't handle."

Only seconds later, practically on cue, Fat Cat and his cronies waltzed in, catching the Rangers' attention morbidly.

"Well, well, well," He commented, "What have we here?"

"Here we go again." Dale muttered.

"If you think you can spoil my latest scheme, you've got another thing coming." Fat Cat continued, followed by diabolical laughter. "Right," He informed his cronies, "Mole, the rack!" This unnerved the Rangers until Mole pulled out a dish rack (the sort you get on draining boards); Fat Cat averted his eyes in pained disbelief. "You…" He growled at Mole but then gave up. "OK, tie them down." His cronies tied all five Rangers to the rack after it was placed on the floor, Zipper was tough to tie down due to his size but the villain usually finds a way. "What do you say now?" He asked the Rangers.

"Do your worst, Fat Cat!" Chip declared defiantly, Fat Cat grunted and said.

"Right. Mepps, give the rack… (Oh dear.) …Give the rack a turn." Mepps looked at the rack and turned to Fat Cat. "I know," He whispered to his dogsbody, "I know you can't! I didn't want to say anything. I just tried to ignore Mole's daft mistake. He's just so unbelievably stupid!"

"Should I, err…?" Mepps started to ask.

"Oh, just pretend, for Pete's sake!" Fat Cat yelled at him, so Mepps laughed diabolically for a few seconds and then made a turning motion next to the rack like he was using a traditional tin opener.

After ten minutes everyone was starting to get bored, the Rangers were tired of being tied down with nothing happening, Fat Cat was bored from the lack of sadistic satisfaction, even Mepps was bored with standing there pretending to turn the rack. Gadget looked around for inspiration as to how to get out of this situation, anyone would think that Fat Cat was trying to bore them to death, her eyes fell upon a nail about 5 feet away, she thought about how useful it could be if she could reach it. After about half a minute she saw the nail begin to move, it levitated about three inches off the floor, turned in her direction and flew through the air, slicing through the binds of the Rangers. Stunned by what happened Gadget dropped her focus on the nail, which fell back to the floor distracting Fat Cat and his gang.

"What was that?!?" Fat Cat declared as he looked around for anyone who might provide backup for the Rescue Rangers. Meanwhile Chip and Monty were looking the other way to see anyone who might've thrown that nail so effectively, but Dale was looking at Gadget who was only just piecing together what had happened.

"Golly!" She exclaimed, but that caught Fat Cat's attention again.

"Seize them!" He told his cronies, Chip and Dale were distressed as to how to get out of this while Zipper flew out of reach and Monterey Jack stood at the ready for a fight. As Wart and Snout reached for Chip and Dale they felt themselves being pulled back, out of reach of the crawlers before softly landing at a windowsill, feet first. Monterey knocked Mole out of the way but didn't get a chance to tackle Mepps, who found himself flung into the lift, which seemed to open on it's own accord, a few nails chased Fat Cat in there too, before they were sent down to the lowest level.

Wart and Snout now reached for Gadget, but she dealt with them easily.

'Wart,' A spooky voice resounded in his head, 'Snout is a traitor. He wants the casino for himself, you must deal with him and Fat Cat will reward you well.' He turned to Snout with a suspicious look in his eye.

'Snout,' The same voice called, 'Wart hates you for receiving Fat Cat's approval.' He looked at Wart with the same suspicious glint. Forgetting the super-intelligent Rescue Ranger, they pounced on each other. Meanwhile Monty and Gadget climbed up onto the windowsill and Zipper flew down to rendezvous with the others, Gadget appeared to be worn out.

"Next time something new crops up," She puffed, "I must remember to start small." Chip and Monterrey blinked at her while Zipper shrugged his shoulders and Dale just smirked in understanding.

"You did all this?" Chip queried, Gadget nodded and added.

"It's only just developed; telekinesis is exhausting at the moment." She took up her thinking posture, having been worn out by the confrontation she considers a way of getting the jewels out of Fat Cat's office without resorting to telekinesis. "I've got it!" She declared barely half a minute later.

"We know that already." Dale commented.

"No Dale," She remarked, "If I hook up a line between the Rangerplane and the statue's nose we can haul the mouth open. Although, we should have the Rangerwing for extra lifting power." At hearing that Monterrey Jack commented.

"In that case we'll just use the Rangerplane."

The Rangerplane strained on it's tow-rope, Gadget put in all that was possible to give the 'plane more lift. The struggle got tougher and tougher, but eventually the cat's mouth opened and not only the jewels, but Wart, Snout and Fat Cat fell out, once again Fat Cat landed in the water.

"If he thinks he'll ever succeed in crime," Dale commented, "He's all wet!" And sniggered to himself. Gadget pulled in the tow-rope and set the Rangerplane on course for home.